Yikes! It's been awhile.

Well, it has been some time now hasn't it? So, so, so much has happened since Oct. My husband has been away since Nov. and in that time frame my children and I have travelled literally from coast to coast. When my husband left, I packed up the house and put it in storage and headed off for the west coast. It was my intention to stay there for the remainder of hubby's deployment, however, as we all know, plans change. So, I spent the month of Nov and a portion of Dec in Bend, Oregon. I love Bend! It is breath-taking! It is called the "high desert". It is a desert, but all around you are these beautiful snow covered mountains. Love it! So anyway, after my adventures in Oregon, I headed off for the frozen tundra known as North Dakota. Holy cow! Can you say cold? Now, I grew up in ND, however, after being gone for some time, it absolutely amazes me how people actually survive in this land of ice and below zero temperatures. I kid you not, one night while I was there, the actual temperature was -48 degrees. The windchill was around -55. I cannot believe I lived there and at one point said I would rather be cold than hot! Just for the record, I hate ND winters! Always have and always will! Moving on. So I spent Christmas and a better part of Jan in ND with my parents. I had a wonderful time being with family. I have been so blessed to be part of a family that has given me much love and support. My family has made me who I am today. The love of my parents has fashioned me into the mother that I am to my children. My family means so much to me and I could not have asked for a better family to be part of.

After my visit in ND, I started to make my way back to VA. En route, I stopped for a few days in Ohio to see my mom's side of the family. I had a great time visiting with them and was able to relax and rest for a bit. I then headed forward, on to VA. The moment I arrived, the work started. I had some help from the church here to get my things moved into our new apartment. That was such a huge blessing to me. Since then, it has not stopped. My mom was able to come out for a few days before she headed north to see my sister and her new baby.

During this time, I have been faced with some of the hardest times I have experienced in a long time. As I said before, my hubby is deployed, so while he is gone, everything falls on my shoulders. Ladies, let me tell you, there is a good reason the man is supposed to be the head of the house. I have never before felt like just giving up so many times as I have during this deployment. If it were just me, I probably would have given up, but I have children that I need to care for. So, here I am, faced with either having a total meltdown and not being able to care for my kids, or, falling on my knees and asking God to please give me the strength to carry on for just one more day. Do I really have an alternative? Can I really fail my children? NO! I have to ask God everyday to just get me through this day. Get me to the other side of this deployment so that I can see my husband and the father of my children come home to us. Drag me, push me, carry me, do what ever you have to do to get me to the other side Lord, please, I need to be in my husband's arms again. I have cried so much that I cannot even count how many times, AND I HATE CRYING! So as you can see, the Lord has been ever faithful and has brought me through every day. Hubby is still not home, but the Lord will see me through; "His mercies are new every morning" right?

On a lighter note, I have started to work on my physical transformation that I mentioned in my first blog. I joined the YMCA so that I could work out and have a place for my children to go during this time. I had my first meeting with a trainer this past week. I am excited to get into a groove and work my tail off~literally! If I could just get my kids to stay healthy, then maybe I could get into the gym more than once a week. It seems that everytime they get better, we go out to run errands and whatnot, and the next day, they are down again.

So, that is where things stand for now. Just working to survive this time without hubby & daddy, and trying to get some things accomplished in the midst of it all.